The present invention relates in general to space heating equipment and more particularly to free standing, wood burning units that may be utilized both as fireplaces and as room heaters.
Current trends in energy conservation have led to the design of freestanding fireplace and heater units that are significantly more efficient than the permanent masonry fireplace structure. Most such freestanding structures, however, remain relatively inefficient for the amount of fuel consumed. This is primarily because the number of surfaces heated by the fire contained within the partially enclosed fireboxes are not exposed to cooling air. Therefore heat is not efficiently exchanged with the air in the adjacent room.
It is fairly typical to provide some form of forced air unit in conjunction with a freestanding heating unit that will force cooling air across one or more of the heated surfaces of an associated firebox. The bottom surface is typically heated along with the other surfaces of the firebox but is usually not effectively utilized for heat exchange purposes. Furthermore, the typical form of freestanding fireplace and heating unit that does provide some form of forced air feature usually includes an exposed blower adjacent its forward side. Such blowers typically pull the air from the area directly adjacent the unit to blow it across the heated firebox surfaces. It is usually necessary for the blower to be spaced adjacent to the firebox so it is not at all unusual for the heated air to be pulled back through the intake of the blower unit. This decreases heating efficiency by reheating or maintaining the heat of the previously heated air without spreading it throughout the adjacent room area.
It therefore becomes desirable to obtain some form of freestanding fireplace and heater combination that will make effective use of heated firebox surfaces plus the principles of convection and forced air to provide an efficient heat exchanging unit.
It is also desirable to obtain a combined fireplace and heating unit wherein a forced air blower is supplied that is not visible from the front of the unit.